LSU's baseball team defeats Southern 15-5

Every inning matters for a substitute. A comfortable lead Tuesday night allowed LSU's reserves to steal the show, led by freshman Tyler Moore's four RBIs and an inside-the-park home run in a 15-5 win over Southern on Tuesday night at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge.

No. 11 LSU led 10-5 in the seventh inning when Moore drove a ball to right-center field that got stuck under the fence. Center fielder David Wright tried to stop the play after Moore reached second base by waving his hand up to signal the ball was unplayable.

"If the ball looks like it's stuck under the outfield fence, it's really not," LSU Coach Paul Mainieri said. "It's just between the warning track surface and the padding, and it's in the rules he has to go get the ball. But of course, the players don't read the ground rules, and they don't know all the nooks and crannies of the field."

Meanwhile, Moore cruised around the bases. He said he was thinking triple off the bat but knew something strange happened after rounding third.

"I just kept chugging and crossed home plate," Moore said.

Junior first baseman Mason Katz said nobody could have predicted Moore's first home run would come in that fashion.

"If we were in Vegas, those odds would have been the highest odds ever -- slowest kid on our team, one of the slowest kids probably in the SEC -- getting an inside the park home run," Katz joked.

Katz moved to right field when Moore entered at first base. He might have to stay fresh in the outfield. Mainieri said Moore's 2-for-3 performance could land him playing time this weekend against Auburn.

"I really want to get some more left-handed presence in our lineup," Mainieri said. "I've been kind of waiting for him to do something. Now it gives me a little bit of an option there as we go into this weekend."

LSU got 18 hits, and seven players had at least two hits.

LSU used nine pitchers, none for more than two innings. Sophomore Joe Broussard and junior Chris Cotton each allowed one run, and the remaining relievers held the Jaguars scoreless after the fifth inning.

Freshman pitcher Carson Baranik threw in the sixth inning for the first time in his career, after a brief suspension in February stemming from an arrest. Baranik, who said he's grateful for a second opportunity, walked the first batter he saw but got the next three hitters out after a visit to the mound from pitching Coach Alan Dunn.

"It was actually good he came out there right then," Baranik said. "I didn't want to die of a heart attack from the adrenaline rush. He just came out there and settled me down."